Diocese To Close All Saints

At the end of this school year, All Saints Regional Catholic School in Glen Cove is planning on shutting its doors. According to the Diocese of Rockville Centre, the enrollment has been declining and is currently at a point where it is not sustainable. The announcement came unexpectedly to parents and students, who received the news late in the afternoon on Thursday, Jan. 10, in the form of a letter written by Rev. Daniel Nash.

“All Saints Regional School continues to experience a decline in student enrollment,” said Nash. “As enrollment has declined, the income from tuition and fundraising has also decreased, and the amount of parish and diocesan operating support has increased.”

According to Nash, enrollment dropped 27 percent over a five-year period, from September 2013 to September 2018, with only 132 students currently attending kindergarten through eighth grades. An additional 11 students attend the nursery program, making the total drop 35 percent in the entire student body.

Five regional parishes—St. Boniface Martyr in Sea Cliff, St. Hyacinth in Glen Head, St. Mary in Roslyn, and St. Patrick and St. Rocco, both in Glen Cove—support All Saints School and provided a total of $1.88 million in operating costs between the 2013-2014 school year and the 2017-2018 school year, with an additional $1.46 million provided by Diocese of Rockville Centre, according to Nash. This year, he said, the expected support from the parishes will be a total of $370,000, with the diocese providing $450,000 in core contribution.

“This level of dependence on the parishes and the diocese is not sustainable,” said Nash. “Therefore, we had to make a tough choice.”

He noted the decision was “not made lightly,” but that, “at the end of the day, we had to make the decision that was necessary.”

The announcement has not only left parents in shock, but has found them scrambling to find a school for next year. The closure of ASR means that students in the area will have to travel to Manhasset, Oyster Bay or Syosset to continue their Catholic education.

“Our family is heartbroken over the news of the closing of our school,” said Susan McCormack. “It is the only elementary school that my children have known and our family has been part of the school, in one way or another, for the past 40 years. We pray that the teachers, staff, administrators, students and their families will find a new place to call home. We will miss our school family more than words can say.”